First Track Workout

First workout of the season this past Thursday. I did a track workout earlier, but nothing rigorous. The workout consisted of interval running and a strength circuit with squats, lunges, pushups, situps, etc.

I felt good throughout the whole workout, but could tell that my endurance was lacking. My running form was weak, but that will improve as I get out to the track more. It's the first time that I have gone out to the track and could feel my form hindering my runs. I ran track in high school and understand form for the different types of running, so I don't worry about getting back into running form quickly. The muscle memory will kick in and I should be good to go.

I stretched a little bit after the workout, not long enough as there were more pressing issues in my mind, dinner and Hawks playoff game 2 against the Cavs (it was ugly i know!). My legs were sore for the following two days, so stretching is going to be a critical part of my training this season. I did not do very well in the off season with a stretching program, which I really should have made a more important part of the offseason.

Looking forward to this week's track workout.

Cleats

I need a new pair. The ones I have now made it through the entire club season and could probably make it a few more months into the Club Season. They will make good back up cleats.

I currently have New Balance cleats and like them alot. The biggest reason is because of the wider toe box and the durability of the cleats. The only downside to these cleats are that they are a little bulky/heavy.

In college I had the Nike Speed TDs. Absolutely loved these except for the toebox being a little narrow. I ordered them online and wore them anyways. I felt really fast in them and liked the durability as well. I think the weight difference is negligible between the two cleats, but I did prefer the feel of the Speed TDs.

Speed TDs seem to be on the way out, so finding a pair might be tough. It looks like NB has a newer model of my current cleat, so that is worth looking into. We'll see what I can find for relatively cheap.

Ready to Run

Looking forward to this season for two reasons:

Reason 1
Semifinals loss to Ironside. We played hard, really hard, but our Defense could not catch any breaks or capitalize on the few break chances that we had. I'm not sure if we would have beaten Jam in the finals, but making it that far would have sparked the best ultimate that Chain played the entire season. I was lucky to be able to play at natties in my first year. I can't speak for the entire team, but for me personally, the loss in the semis has made me extremely hungry to improve as an ultimate player and as a teammate. This season is going to be good.

Reason 2
It's a long off season. There are the occasional tournaments, Mudbowl, Mardi Gras, 7 Little Idiots and others where the main purpose of attendance is to have a good time, drink heavily, and play with people you don't get to play with on a regular basis. There is nothing like the club season, getting to play with and against the best players in the nation. Its a time where I get to do what I love at the highest level week in and week out. Practice is good, tournaments are awesome, and working hard every weekend for 5 months is fun. Yes, it's hell on your body and it's mentally exhausting, but that's what I sign up for. Granted, would I feel differently if I was on a team that didn't make it to semis at Nationals?

There are other reasons, I'm sure. What are yours?

Tryouts

Tryouts are 5 weeks away. I plan on getting out and doing some track workouts in the next month to be ready.

Is my spot on the team secure? I would venture to say no, it isn't. At the very least that should be the mindset, right? Just because I am a returner, shouldn't guarantee my spot on the team. I am a second year player and I certainly haven't earned the luxury of a secure spot that a lot of the Chain veterans have. So, I will be coming out to tryouts fired up and ready to prove that last year was no fluke.

Getting to start on defense against Ironside in the semifinals of Natties was amazing and I worked hard for it, but there are way too many good players on this team to think that what I did last year earns me a spot this year. I now have a season's experience; how I use that experience will shape my 2009 season (and I have some high personal expectations).

Nashvegas

Went to Nashville last weekend for the Music City Tune Up. Cool city, got a good tour of it with Taylor's directions and mental mapping skills. I played with the GCSU guys and we were 8 deep just like the good old days, Hell yes! We lost in the Semis at DGP, but we were all pretty dead and a finals appearance would have left a lot to be desired for the fans. It was a good run for 8 guys and a hell of a good time. What am I talking about, we would have pulled something out of our ass if we had made finals...apparently there was prize money?!?!?

Lull

I took a hiatus from lifting for a little while and helped my girl train for the Team USA tryouts in late February. Got back into lifting but not nearly as frequently as I would like. Its become too easy to get home from work and veg on the couch, or get involved with school work.

Excuses are easy, but tryouts are a few months away. Time to change mindsets and realize why I wanted to put in the effort this offseason. Semifinals was nice, but...

New Year

2009 rang in with quiet a bang for me. I'll spare the details and say that I spent it with good people and had a lot of fun, too much fun.

Since I am participating in the Savage Seven tournament in Athens this weekend I am going to push back starting my training until Monday the 5th. I am sure my legs are going to be sore from the weekend, so i might start out with some Upper Body work on Day 1 and then go from there. I'm not exactly sure what exercises i will do right now.

I want to get 2-3 Lower Body workouts in each week. Recovery time for my legs is important so I will tend toward two a week now so I can stay healthy.

Stretch!

This past weekend was the annual 12 Days of Christmas Hat Tournament in Atlanta and I think i am pretty close to the sorest I have been after a tournament. Saturday was cold and sunny, but Sunday was even colder than Saturday and it was windy and overcast. I knew I wasn't going to warm up properly for Sunday getting out to the fields 15 minutes before the round started, but had I gotten out there earlier I probably still wouldn't have warmed up properly.

In my case this weekend, the cold weather was a double-edge sword. Standing around in 5 layers with 2 people huddled in a blanket was much more inviting than going through a proper warm up knowing full well I needed to get loose. When its cold out its even that more critical to warm up and get loose simply to avoid injury and soreness after the tournament. Clearly I am paying for making a rash decision.

Even so, this was a great tournament and a lot of fun.

In the off season I plan to get into a stretching routine to improve flexibility. I think my lateral movements on the field will be quicker, my overall speed will increase, jumping will be more fluid, and my body will be able to handle the beating it takes during the Club season better.

Desire in the Off-Season

It's been a little bit less than a month and a half since Nationals, but my mind can't help but progress to next season. Probably 6 months away from the start of practice and I am thinking about what i need to do come January 1. Fortunately, i have a consistent job, so I will be able to plan my evenings and get into a routine. Weightlifting and throwing will be the majority of my offseason ultimate activities. Mudbowl, Mardi Gras, Terminus, and Memorial Day Hat Tournaments will be scattered into the Spring as well. It can't all be work in the off season, right?

The feelings i have are different from the days of college when i couldn't get enough Ultimate. I wanted to win, but more importantly, I wanted to play as much as possible. Back then there were better teams (ill contribute that to better programs than GCSU) and getting to play against them was a learning experience. After this season with Chain, I have different thoughts and reflections on the past season and Ultimate altogether that, hopefully, will drive me next season. Maybe they are thoughts of a more mature player, who knows??? Ill reflect later...

Background

I started playing competitive Ultimate in Milledgeville, GA (where the hell is that?) home of Georgia College and State University. There wasn't a program when i started school in the Fall of 2002, so the only exposure i got was during Intramurals and pickup for the first 3 years of school. GCSU started an Ultimate team in 2004 but couldn't get enough interest in order to field a team for the college series until the Spring of 2006 and 2007. During both years we qualified for AC Regionals and finished in the bottom half of the tournament, but for a 1st and 2nd year program we were happy to be playing at Regionals in, arguably, the deepest region (at the time) in the country.

During college, GCSU would field a team for the open club season, SmokeShack. It was made up of mostly GCSU guys and some others from around the Atlanta area. We were competitive enough, but we used the club season mainly to keep playing tournaments. I am sure most can relate to their early career being a time of never getting enough ultimate.

After graduation in 2007 I played club with a Coed team out of the southeast, Southside United. I would say this was my 'introduction' into the Club Ultimate scene. This past season I played with Atlanta's Chain Lightning. It was good timing as I believe this was one of Chain's strongest teams to date, falling just short of the finals at Nationals.